Page 601 - Week 02 - Thursday, 20 March 2014
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amendments will provide a couple of practical steps to help sort through some of these details and will actually go to the willingness of the members.
Mr Smyth makes the observation that, when we have to codify these things, there is something wrong. In one sense, I agree with him but we have had to get to a point where we have had to amend standing order 249 to say, “If the committee cannot agree on which draft report to consider, the Chair’s draft will have precedence.” That is an obvious and practical amendment. To think that a committee cannot actually agree on which draft report to consider, I personally find quite extraordinary, and I would expect more of the committee process.
I hope that these amendments do provide some practical tools to move forward, and I wish members well in their future deliberations on the committees.
MS BERRY (Ginninderra) (10.59): I was not intending to speak on this motion moved by Mrs Dunne and the comments made by Mr Smyth, but I thought I had to give my five cents worth on my very short history on committees of this place and my experience on committees where I have been able to work collaboratively, negotiate and reach a consensus and make a report to the Assembly. On the one committee that we were not able to do that, it was an entirely different situation. Members of that committee were, for whatever reason, not able to work together and reach a consensus.
I truly believe—and it is clear from the evidence that Mr Gentleman has brought into this place and from the reports that have been received by the chamber—that the committee system does work. It just requires a little maturity and a bit of grown-up negotiation. I do not agree that the committee system does not work and I do not think that these changes will provide that grown-up maturity that is going to be required amongst all members of committees to be able to reach an agreement, because these variations are not going to change the way that people behave on committees.
I do agree with some of the things that Mrs Dunne said about people’s behaviour. She is right on there. I had some personal experience of behaviour of members on one of the committees that I was on. So I think that does need to improve. So I have put my five cents worth. My history is short; it does not go back to band camp but I have been learning along the way. And I think if all members of committees can work collaboratively together, like they have in the majority of cases, then we can report to the Assembly.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (11.01), in reply: Just briefly to conclude, I thank members for their comments and I will resist the temptation to go over the history. I think it is time to draw a line in the sand and the rehashing of he said, she said and who was right on a particular occasion does not solve that problem.
I agree with Mr Rattenbury and Mr Smyth. I think it is a great shame that we have to codify this. I jokingly, without revealing too much of what goes on in the administration and procedure committee, made the comment to Mr Rattenbury the other day, “That is why we have reserve powers that we do not write down because once you write it down then you have a process by which you can attempt to get around it.”
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